MTV Will Go “Color Blind” For MLK Day – But What Does It Mean For The …

Common Discusses Race Relations with MTV for Martin Luther King Day (VIDEO).

MTV will air in black and white for twelve hours on Martin Luther King Jr. “Our aim is to jar audiences into having what we’re calling ‘The Talk’ – candid, confident and ‘color brave’ conversations on race and bias,” a MTV rep tells PEOPLE.

Throughout the day, every commercial block will begin with personal reflections on race from familiar faces including Selma director Ava DuVernay, the film’s star David Oyelowo, rappers Kendrick Lamar and Big Sean, singer Jordin Sparks, rocker Pete Wentz, Sen. The broadcast event is the latest initiative to come out of MTV’s Look Different anti-bias campaign, which promotes dialogue about race, gender and sexuality. The campaign partnered with NAACP and other civil rights groups last summer to create commercials after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo.

Cory Booker and more. “America and race relations – we have to acknowledge it,” Common says in the video. “I think everybody overall wants the same results and that’s a better place, a place where everybody can just connect and not worry about like what color this person is or what their religion is.” “MLK today means hope. … He means love,” Common continues. “He means a human being that has shown us that we can not only be heroes but that we are people an we can do great things.” The project also aired a special segment called Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word, in which the Orange Is the New Black actress took viewers inside the lives of transgender youth.

Lewis, one of the student leaders working with King, suffered a skull fracture when Alabama state troopers, sheriff deputies and possemen wielding bullwhips, clubs and tear gas advanced on the marchers on the outskirts of Selma. “We thought what better day than MLK Day to really use, not only the history and the power of what Dr. King said with the “I Have a Dream” speech, but hear it from artists, political leaders and the audience to really spark a national conversation,” Friedman said. Especially, Friedman says, when viewers will be encouraged to start these conversations after watching segments of Cory Booker discussing how race has affected his ability to date, Kendrick Lamar talking about his conversations with his father on prejudice or listening to David Oyelowo talking about the bias he confronts every day by being in an interracial marriage. “We hope it will be a stark and eye-opening moment to understand on one level how far we’ve come, but also to hear from national figures how much things have not changed and how far we need to go,” Friedman said. “I think the audience will be surprised.” According to the research, many millenials were raised to believe they should treat everyone the same, and not acknowledge racial differences and other cultural distinctions.